As you know, I still have a lot to learn. At this point I understand there are different metals, among them stainless and carbon steel, with different levels of hardness that affects how easy it is to take and lose an edge. I have garden tools I sharpen that I am way more casual about, and are probably a bit different. Where should I look to learn more about metals and sharpening?
It seems you have Shun knives, right? They are good knives.
zknives has good information for knife steel, but some of the information are above most people
Independent reviews of hunting, utility and survival knives, kitchen cutlery, flashlights, hardware, software, digital photography equipment. (zknives.com)
In term of easy to read for knife maintenance and steel information, I think Chad Ward’s book is a very good guide.
He has some online writing which is very similar to his book. You can take a look
Knife Maintenance and Sharpening - The eGullet Culinary Institute (eGCI) - eGullet Forums
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Yes; a few are Shun. Thank you for the references! I’m sure I’ll find one there that works for me.
Actually my favorite is the Wusthof Trident Santoku.
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Man. You made a huge mistake there. 
It is like saying you like Pepsi, and then correct it to Coke.
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I have even more to learn! I happened to notice the logo in the picture and realized it was Wusthof. Then I started googling a comparison. 
(Rockwell) score!
Is this generally true?
“If you are considering German knives vs. Japanese, cutting edge is the key difference. Japanese knives are only sharpened on one edge, which means if you are left-handed you have to get a knife specifically sharpened on the left side”
NVM I see it’s been discussed before.
There are also many Japanese knives that are double bevel, usually gyutos, petty knives, parers, and santokus. The single bevel is a unique critter. I mainly see single bevels in usubas, yanagibas, and about half the time in debas. The double beveled Japanese knives quite often have more acute angles than Western knives, but I have noticed more Western knives moving to more acute angles. Over the years my natural sharpening angle has made my Sabatiers more acute.
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I think Wusthof knives are generally slightly harder than Henckels, but Heckels have a wider product selection and it even has a Japanese line from Japan.
Traditional Japanese knives like usuba, yanagiba and deba are single bevel. It is very profound.
However, what most people meant by Japanese knives these days, they mean the modern/westernized Japanese knives, like your Shun knives which are double bevels. Some manufacturers sharpen their knives into a 80/20 edge. So sometime there is still a handiness to them.
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Handsome collection. Love your new little guys. Love your philosophy, there. Pss on it, buy 'em all and try 'em out. I bet each will have its own little niche job.
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My adult son and his wife are joining us for an extended stay, so it will be nice to have extras. Last time they visited I hid my olive wood spoons when I found them soaking in the sink. 
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Thank you!
Only in the circles that already believe that.
I’m not a professional, but I–like most professionals outside Japan–don’t use so-called “J-knives” at all.
There are so many trade-offs among different types of knives. The Japanese have a respectable tradition of knife making, but so do so many other countries, including North American countries. Japanese tend to have extremely fine edges that make certain cuts brilliantly, but they also tend to be delicate. No one except maybe a sushi chef is going to want a delicate knife in a fast moving, hard working kitchen. Personally, I like Wa handles but not everyone does. I am far from a knife nerd, but I think French profile carbon steel is just as good a choice for me. The cook who likes rock chopping may prefer a German profile. Lots of folk like stainless. And then there are the worlds of bolsters, scales, and so much more. There is only a best for a particular cook. There is no universally acclaimed best. And since we are on the cookware board, that extends to pots and pans, too.
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I am not a pro, but I used to be. I worked several years in a family owned (not my family) Japanese restaurant. I started in the kitchen, and my last job was as an itamae, making sushi. I used some really nice knives there. In the kitchen they were all standard restaurant supply chef’s and paring knives (may have been Dexter Russell, but I don’t remember, it was 35+ years ago). In the sushi bar we used Japanese knives, of course. Yanagibas, debas, and sushi-kiris (which you hardly ever see). Most of the knives got touched up on a stone daily with a few strokes, nothing too serious.
So what do I use at home? I have three knives that do about 95% of my cutting. My workhorse is an 8" Victorinox Fibrox Chef’s knife. I have no idea what brand the paring knife is. And I have a Chinese cleaver of similarly unknown provenance. Of course I have others, but I don’t use them much. A western cleaver. a ceramic petty (Kyocera). Another 8" chef’s (Cutco) that I use exclusively to cut cheese, and a Cutco bread knife pretty much round out the lot.
I am not a knife nerd. I know how to use knives and to maintain them. I teach an occasional class on knife basics at the local ag extension. I enjoy the zen experience of using a whetstone, which I’ll whip out every 6-8 months. I use a hone EVERY time I use a non-serrated knife to preserve the edge as long as possible.
I do have what some might consider an unreasonable collection of pocketknives, though, including a balisong that I rarely carry because they’re pretty illegal where I live, although it can be fun to whip out and whip around.
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Why? Just kidding.
Just spotted your Shun dual core Santoku now. How do you like it?
I like it! I don’t use it as much as the Wusthof Trident, but I just noticed I am using it right now, cutting up poblanos and corn on the cob. Except for boning chicken, I mostly use knives to chop or cut up fruit and veg. I am more hesitant to use the Shun because I need to take care of the wooden handle, and don’t want to sharpen the blade “wrong”.
What can I say? I bit on the hype when ceramics were new so I bought one. I hardly ever use it, though.
Exact same thing here. I got a Kyocera petty maybe 20 years ago from Professional Cutlery Direct. Always hoped I’d break it so I could toss it without guilt.
Home cook with a mutt collection of knives. My “nice” ones are two Shun Bob Kramer inspired knives (when he works with them to design them) - one is an 8" chef knife and the other is an 8" santoku. I have small hands, so day to day I prefer a 7" knife for regular prep and that’s a MAC global chef’s knife. When I have to slice or cut into something big (e.g., a watermelon), the Shun 8" is so smooth - like butter. I also have a Shun cleaver for cutting through bones and a Victorinox fillet/deboning knife.
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